Work in Progress Step 09

Finally, back to it this evening, after a long day of ratty and other business, including making a meatloaf.
The outer layers are mostly dry, so I can use rolled up newspaper to add some bulk to the torso. This is a good way to accomplish bulk without adding weight up here that would make the piece top-heavy. You might be surprised to find out how heavy a paper mache sculpture can be. (Think of a thick pack of printer paper). In thick layers, paper is very heavy. Pete, who ran out to get flour for me last night, has the tornado that is Orion so I can go make some progress.
This is real motivation at work. I'm actually walking right past The Daily Show to go work...

G'night 

Work in Progress 08 c

Up to now, I've used heavy paper used for roofing jobs. Tomorrow I'll switch to a much lighter masking paper to give me the fine testures I'll want. He's holding a lot of water right now, so is pretty heavy. I'll let him dry in front of a fan overnight.

Work in Progress 8 b

The face becomes more detailed, This is the moment he becomes real. I suspend my disbelief here, nearly as when watching a film. It's the moment you can forget the medium and enter into the story. Here is where I see him, and he looks back.

Work in Progress 08 a

Framed up the hood with bailing wire and masking tape. Just the general shape--the wire is flexible so I can make changes.

Art, Interrupted

This is where real life kicks in. Here the artist, no matter how inspired, must switch gears to accomodate last minute schedule changes and pick up Orion, take a dozen packages to the Post Office and stop by the market, same three-year-old dynamo in tow. Didn't I mention something earlier about food?
This stuff happens. It's not glamourous, but who ever said being an artist is? The shows are nice, but the creative hours are peppered with down-to-earth everyday have-tos. Then, if the everyday wasn't there, it's likely the art would be lacking some of its punch.
Food, finishing up the rat orders that came in today, tearing up lots of paper, then a rest and coffee and back to it. It's poised, I think, for a good session, waiting for me to come back and find out who, what he is. I do know this already--he's evil.


--later

Work in Progress 07

I'm going to stop here for a bit. It's a good place. He's starting to shape up and I have a good idea where I'm going but I haven't quite hit the zone yet. It's coming, That's an interesting place and I dare not go there without food.

Work in Progress 06

This is the messy part. It's a good part too. It's the part where it starts to come together in my head. This is a sleeve. I'm liking the sort of organic curve and decide to repeat it.

Work in Progress 04

It's a Boy!! Yes, his gender has been determined. In the tub is a mixture of flour, water and wood glue (about a pint). You don't have to have the wood glue, but it gets rid of the chalky texture and makes it more plastic and, it seems, stronger.

Work in progress 03

Ok. We've moved inside to begin in earnest. The downside of doing a sculpture off the cuff like this, so to speak, is that you run the risk of utter and complete failure. And that you can easily paint yourself into a corner, put the cart before the horse, throw the baby out with the bath water and whatever other cliche you can think up to describe mistakes caused by lack of planning. On the other hand, you can learn a lot, it's fast, and really, it's fun to let the thing make itself. I'll be tearing up lots of paper next, mixing glue, and putting on some music. Funny to think that whatever I choose to listen to will decide in some part what this thing becomes.

Work in progress 02

So I decided to make use of the working light. This helps me choose a position. Nothing has really hit me, so I just picked one. A figure holding a light in one hand, looking and gesturing with the other. What gesture, I haven't decided. Or any other details, but I have to start somewhere. I removed the globe, pulled the cord and socket out a bit. fitted a strip of wood for the shoulders, and attached the socket to the end. Now, a little framing, and more thinking. Music will be good here.

Work in progress 01

One unsightly old lamp, in working condition. Now for more coffee. Ok. So I'm moving a little slowly. Nobody jumps out of bed and vacuums. I'm looking...I'm thinking... I'll be back in an hour or so.

A Good Day for...Bugs

It begins.
I'm sure I'll see this sight a few more times. I'm posting before ACME hour begins. No kid's education is complete without Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. To me, a truly rounded person can tell Berlioz from Dvorak and Chuck Jones from Fritz Freleng. Ok, that's a ridiculous standard, but I can dream. While I'm at it, I'm teaching Orion to operate Pez. One day, when he's ready, I'll introduce him to Ready Whip in a can. But then, that's really Dad's job, I think.

A Good Day for...Grace

To Deren, and others who've asked: Please forgive the delay. This is a photo of the sculpture Neil writes about in Smoke and Mirrors. It's called "A Measure of Grace." He's had it for a number of years and says he suspects there is a book in there somewhere. I know there's a painting in there, or perhaps a sculpture in a different medium. I'm not so certain I'm finished with the idea.

A Good Day for...Rats

Eight Rats and a BAT! Wow. A box arrived from Robert and Roland in Atlanta. I couldn't have been more pleased than to find two huge rubber rats unlike any I presently have, a sqeaky white rat, four sweet, squishy ones, a Bone rat creature I especially like for some reason and a very cool bat, Thanks you two! I like rats...

A Good Day for...Chili

Well, not quite, but hopefully soon. This recipe arrived yesterday from way back East courtesy of Ivory, whom I hope will be attending Balticon next year. I imagine this chili is best served in colder temps. Whoever tries it first, let the rest of us know!

Ivory'’s Hot Diggedy Three Bean Chili

-3 pounds ground chuck - 1 6-ounce can tomato paste

-2 cups coarsely chopped onions - 1 teaspoon salt

-2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic - pepper to taste

-1/4 cup oil - 4 beef bouillon cubes

-1 teaspoon oregano - 1 12-ounce bottle beer (lager or stout work best)

-1/4 cup chili powder - 1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained

-1 teaspoon cumin - 1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained

-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes - 1 15-oz can black beans, drained

-1 15-oz can cut okra, drained - water as needed

(DISCLAIMER: This is my recipe that I developed over the course of many years and many batches of chili. It is based on another recipe that I found and experimented with until I perfected it to my tastes. My challenge to you is to do the same. Use this recipe as your blueprint to go and build your own house. Add and subtract ingredients until youÂ’ve made it your own and to your tastes. Good luck and good eating!)

Brown ground chuck in large skillet, stirring until crumbly; drainSauteutÂ’e onions and Garlic in oil in skillet for 5-10 minutes. Add oregano, chili powder, cumin, red pepper, Tomato paste, salt and pepper; mix well. Fill a glass with boiling water and dissolve 4 bouillon cubes in it. Stir in bouillon water and bottle of beer (the type of beer you use will affect tflavorour of the chili a lot. Experiment with different types and styles.

I prefer the taste that dark beers give to the mixture such as Stouts and Lagers.
Guinness, Beamish, and Samuel Adams are all good choices.)

Add ground chuck; Mix well.

Add just enough water to make the mixture lightly soupy and easy to Stir.

Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours (I find a good sized slow cooker is best for This). Add beans and okra, simmer for an hour more. For best flavour I'd advise Chilling overnight and then reheating. Top with cheese and serve with plenty of Bread and beer.

Thanks, Ivory!!

Tomorrow, rain or shine, ready or not, I will make some sort of something of the unsightly old lamp. I will keep you posted as it comes along, or doesn't.

The voice of the late Mr. Blanc calls...

G'night

Quiet Sunday 1

Quiet Sunday. Alison came and we made soup, but not tea. Coffee. The photo is of her and her boyfriend, Richard, who is in his final steps of training to be a firefighter. She is working. They have plans to go to San Francisco where she’ll be learning to be a chef. Hmmm. I remember her cooking experiments when she lived at home. This firefighting thing might come in handy.

Quiet Sunday 2

Alison and I talked about possible sculptures for me to make from the lamp. We talked about how bottom heavy the lamp is. She pointed out that this is good from a not-falling-over standpoint as well as a not-getting stolen standpoint. This reminded me of the birdbath we had back at the Big Blue House in Georgia. (and Aubrey, running around it).
I awoke one morning to discover it missing. Someone had actually stolen the birdbath right out of our front yard. Go figure. Bastards! So I bought another birdbath. A big one. A solid one that required three grunting, sweating men to move it from the back of a truck to the spot in the middle of the flowers. A couple of months went by, then one morning, we awoke to find the top of the birdbath about a yard from the bed, and the bottom at the end of a rut, the result of dragging it several yards across the lawn. It had been abandoned there, and scrawled on it in black marker, the word “BICH.” I have to wonder, if this dude had stayed in school and learned to spell, if he’d be trying to steal someone’s “fuking burdbath?”

Quiet Sunday 3

That got us started in on the Big Blue House. It was once a school. It was echo-y and cold in winter. At night we could hear it ‘breathing’. But it was big. Soooo big. Sort of empty really, because we didn’t have enough furniture to fill it. But lots of books and lots of space to play. The carnival was born there. In some ways, all my work was.

Quiet Sunday fin

I’ve been in the desert for nearly eight years now but still, sometimes I’m overtaken by a painful nostalgia, especially when I remember winter days when we walked around with blankets and drank cocoa and watched motorists ignore the signs and try unsuccessfully to climb the icy hill. So much of who I am and what I write and paint and sculpt is drawn from that palette of gray skies and evergreens. It calls me, pulls at me and I have to busy myself with other concerns so part of me doesn’t just fly away home.


Don't forget to speak up sooner than later if you want a Grim Ratter to arrive before Halloween.

And, if you were thinking of sliding a Tiny Story in just under the skin of the grace period, now's you chance. Again, sooner than later.

As always, thanks for checking in,

G'night